CAS Sponsors “High School Actuarial Day” in Chicago

More than 300 high schools students and teachers from 14 Chicago-area high schools participated in the first High School Actuarial Day on April 18 at DePaul University. Spearheaded by CAS President Brian Brown, the event was held in partnership with DePaul and supported by the SOA, The Actuarial Foundation, the International Association of Black Actuaries, the Organization of Latino Actuaries, Gamma Iota Sigma, and CNA. More than 60 speakers and volunteer table leaders from these organizations participated in the event program.

The goal of the program was to expose high school students of color to the actuarial profession as a career choice. While the event was open to all students, schools with a high percentage of students of color were targeted, and within these schools, students in advanced math classes were encouraged to attend.

Recent research on barriers to entry into the profession for under-represented demographic groups has shown that one of the main reasons that students of color do not enter the profession is their lack of knowledge of the profession until late in college. This puts them at a disadvantage relative to other students, as many employers look to hire students who have passed a few actuarial exams and completed an internship before offering full time employment.

The agenda for the program included a mix of general session speakers, table discussions, and problem-solving activities. Program highlights included:

• Practicing actuaries sharing why they became an actuary, what they love about working as an actuary, and the different job opportunities available to actuaries.
• An overview of the process for pursuing a career as an actuary and resources available to students to assist them along their career path.
• Math estimation and logic problems, which the students worked in teams to solve.
  Brown had made the High School Day one of his top goals for his term as CAS President. He commented that, “Putting on an event like this requires a lot of work, and I am very appreciative of the support we received, particularly from DePaul University, Chicago Public Schools, and the many volunteers who gave their time to make the event a success.”

He continued, “As we work towards building a diverse pipeline of future actuaries, I want to make this an annual event in Chicago.”

Read more about the event in a blog post authored by Brown on the CAS Roundtable. To view photos from the event, see the album on the CAS Facebook page.